The Archaeology of the Yakima ValleySmith, Harlan Ingersoll
History
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley
Smith, Harlan Ingersoll
Yakima River Valley (Wash.) -- Antiquities
The remaining pendants are all made of shell. The one shown in Fig. 87
is a natural olivella shell with the top of the cone missing and found
in grave No. 39 (1) of a child in a rock-slide near the head of Priest
Rapids. A shell somewhat similar to this made into a bead was found in
the Nez Perce region.[280] The pendant shown in Fig. 88 was found in the
grave of a child in a rock-slide west of the Columbia River near the
head of Priest Rapids. It is made of a small marine clam shell
(_Pectunculus_), probably a young _Pectunculus gigantea_. The
perforation passes through the apex and has apparently been gouged from
the outside. The ribs on the convex surface of the shell have been
nearly effaced by grinding or polishing and the hinge also seems to have
been smoothed so that only slight scars mark the depths of the teeth.
This shell certainly came from the Pacific Coast either in its natural
condition or after having been made into this form. It is the only
object made of this kind of shell which I have seen in the whole
northwest. The pendant shown in Fig. 89 is made of iridescent shell
possibly unio but probably haliotis. If the latter, it must have come
from the Pacific Coast. It was found in the same grave. This grave
contained no objects of white man's manufacture or anything suggesting
that it was modern. A list of its contents will be found on p. 169. This
pendant is of the form of an isosceles triangle. It is perforated
through the more acute angle by a small hole which tapers as if drilled
from each side of the object. The edges of the pendant are rather sharp
in places and the lower one is concave in outline. This object may be
compared with the pendant made of bone, found at Lytton,[281] which was
considered to be a sap scraper.[282]
[280] Spinden, Plate IX, Fig. 14.
[281] Smith, (d), Fig. 95.
[282] Smith, (c), p. 441; (b), Fig. 109.
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